It Doesn't Come Easy
by morough
Summary: This is a DracoGinny fic, and takes place outside of school. Secrets, Lies, and Danger all play a part...read and enjoy :)
1. Prologue

Salright, people, get started on the story...hi... :-)

"Gin, would you come here for a sec?"

"You make me sound like a bottle of vodka."

"Well come here anyway, then."

Ginny ducked and dodged her way past various wizards and whizzing memos (she had received enough papercuts to learn to get out of their general direction) to her superior's desk.

"What is it?" Ginny asked Kingsley as she finally made it to his cubicle. "We've got someone reporting Dark activity here in England. Somewhere in the North. It'd be nice if you could check that out for us, we're up to our ears with the new Voldemort sightings...just find out if the rumor is true, don't bother looking for anybody just yet."

"Sure," replied Ginny, returning Kingsley's wink as he passed her a small blue Gobstone. "I'll get on it right away." "You do that," the wizard called after her as she exited his officespace and swam back to her own cubicle in the Auror headquarters, Ministry of Magic, London.

It had been a little over a year since Ginevra Weasley had graduated from Hogwarts, straight into a six-month-training for Dark wizard catchers. The after-school education had been minimized because of Voldemort's new and definite return. No one wanted to waste three years that could be spent on Voldemort. The result was, however, that the newbies were treated almost as though they hadn't left school yet – and it ended up being so that the young Aurors were either given amazingly simple jobs of no importance, or brought along only to give bulk to a raiding party, or something. But being an Auror – even a green one – had its benefits for both Ginny and the Order of the Phoenix. Ginny quickly joined the queue to the Disapparation platform, and arrived at her medium-sized flat with a sharp _pop_.

Quickly pulling off her work robes and slipping into a more comfortable set, Ginny quickly put the Gobstone on her kitchen table and tapped it twice with her wand. The Gobstone glowed blue for a few seconds as the spell took hold of it, then it slowly revolved and split, like a flower unfolding, and then a voice started speaking, quiet enough so that Ginny could just hear it – certainly no one looking in could.

"Ginny, we'd like you to try and investigate Mr. Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. He's up to something, but Severus hasn't gotten any news of him on a job for Voldemort, so we're all in the dark. This is a real one, Ginny, do your best." The Gobstone re-sealed with a soft sound, and the light went out. Ginny picked up the Gobstone and threw it into Gobstone basket. Once the spell was completed, it was only a normal stone to play with.

Ginny sank into her favorite chair, curling up with a puffed pillow on her lap as she always did. She had always acted somewhat cat-like; that was probably the reason why her Animagus transformation was a cat. She had the characteristics.

But cats were not what were on Ginny's mind at the moment. She was thinking about her first assignment. She had received minor assignments before, having joined the Order since she left school, but never a serious solo. Draco Malfoy, of all people to be assigned to...Ginny growled inwardly. _Oh well, best get started on a plan..._

Boiokey, there's my 'prologue.' Tell me if it sounds cheesed or not - I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE TO KNOW. Don't all authors on here say that? But anyway...

And hey to all you I know!! hey!! waves enthusiastically BTW, don't put your real name in the review section...I want to guess who you are. Just tell me in the Crush whether you reviewed or not...

Okeydokey, Mr. Latin is yelling over my shoulder "Five more minutes! FIVE MORE MINUTES!!" So I gotta go. R&R, plz...I'll love you to death and give you imaginary kutos if you do...


	2. Poking a Sleeping Dragon's Eye

Okay, I'm hoping this is better than the prologue... (looks pleadingly at readers)

* * *

Ginny quietly slipped into Malfoy's back garden. They guarded very well against witches and wizards (and muggles) but small animals could slip through: birds, hedgehogs, gnomes...and cats. 

A slim ginger-hued calico with four cream paws delicately padded her way across the pristine lawns of Malfoy Manor. Waiting at the kitchen entrance until almost sundown, Ginny quickly dashed inside the back door when a house-elf opened it for some air. Thanks to a special collar her twin brothers had designed (based heavily on the charms used for their fast-selling Headless Hats) a small grey collar for Ginny the cat that would keep her invisible. For a while, anyway. She needed to be quick; the magic in the collar would only last till mid-morning or so.

Ginny dodged a few more house-elves (the human part of her managing not to swat at the edges of their baggy pillowcases) and leaped up the velveted stairs that led to the bedroom suites.

Draco Malfoy's was, predictably, silver, black, and variant shades of forest green. Evidently his Hogwarts loyalty to Slytherin House had not yet worn off.

Checking to make sure the Malfoy's were still at dinner (she could smell the platters of food as the house-elves delivered them to the table), she transfigured back into her won self, with the silver collar stored deep in a pocket. Bewitching her fingers, to smooth the ridges of her prints, she carefully began searching Malfoy's drawers and closets, searching for secret compartments or cubbies.

Ginny spun around suddenly, heart beating frantically, fighting against the sudden pressure in her chest. Malfoy was returning to his chambers.

Ginny swiftly changed into a cat and ducked under Malfoy's bed, which was thankfully covered in a full-length comforter.

Malfoy was unaware of two eyes watching him from under his bed. His polished shoes moved swiftly toward his desk, then halted. Ginny heard the sound of Malfoy drawing his wand from a deep pocket. He muttered a word under his breath, and she heard the sound of a drawer popping open. Peering out, Ginny saw Draco pull a black half-mask over his head and tie the cloth in a knot at the back of his head. Suddenly, he paused.

_What does he see? _

Draco whirled around and stared at Ginny. For a moment the pair froze, as though Father Time had momentarily failed the world. Then Draco dove for Ginny the cat, just as she scooted out from under the bed through the open door in to the hallway. Her paws were thudding on the plush carpet, slipping slightly as she grew more nervous.

Ginny was suddenly aware of a blue light, and skidded across the floor as her legs failed her. The next moment she was in command of her furred body again, but the few moments were all that Draco needed to catch up to her. He grabbed her by her scruff and lifted her up into the air, his wand still held at his side. She couldn't read his eyes.

He raised his wand and drew a deep breath, evidently preparing for a difficult spell. Ginny squirmed furiously, _not Avada Kedavra, not that, please God..._

He dropped her. Ginny landed on her feet, as always, but even as she swung her first paw forward to break into a run, Draco released the spell. Coated for a second time in a luminous aura, Ginny felt herself loosing her cat-form. _No!_ she screamed silently, but she had no power to reduce the spell. In a matter of seconds, Ginny Weasley, the human being, was huddled on the upper landing of Malfoy Manor red hair falling haphazardly around her face, shaking as she speechlessly stared at Draco Malfoy. _Will he kill me?_ The words didn't form in her head as much as the terror.

Malfoy kept staring at her, his body pose one of surprise. Ginny wished that he didn't have that horrible mask on, at least she could see his face then.

Ginny heard footsteps on the tile below, but neither she nor Malfoy moved. Finally, as Malfoy started toward her, she opened her mouth and her hand jerked automatically toward her wand. Malfoy bowled into her, covering her mouth with his hand and snatching her wand away. His palm was terribly clammy, Ginny realized. Next, he tapped his own wand rapidly against the wall, and gripping her arms with that hand, pulled her into the compartment that appeared behind the paneling.

The space, however, was evidently only built to accommodate one person. Ginny's back was against the hidden back wall, Malfoy squished against her, his hand still over her mouth, and so close that Ginny could feel him breathing faster than she was. If Ginny wasn't so shell-shocked herself, she might have thought he was scared.

Ginny heard footsteps go by, heard low voiced murmuring, and then both faded away as they walked to where Ginny guessed was the upstairs drawing room she had seen earlier. She looked at Malfoy's mask, just able to see the glittering eyes in his face.

* * *

So, we like? Yes? IS ANYBODY GOING TO GIVE ME A REVIEW?!?!? Or does this read that badly? I'm on my knees – which I never do!! (Except to grovel to a few of my superiors, but that's beside the point.) 


	3. Veritaserum

A/N: Hi. :-)

* * *

After a few brief seconds, Draco reached behind Ginny and pushed a small lever behind her back. As they fell into the room behind, Ginny began struggleing again, though she had no need of Malfoy's hand this time ot remind her what to scream. Malfou quickly broke th free from her and turned his wand on her BANG. Snakelike coreds burst from the air and wrrapoped around Ginny./ Al most as an afterthought, he flicked his wand agan, and a few more ropes wound around her mouth. With a swift movement, he pushed Ginny under his bed and left the room, straightening his long black cloak before he left.

Ginny was left there for what seemed like hours.

But he finally returned, closing the door softly behind him, and Ginny could hear more feet echoing in the hallway beyond. Placing a silencing charm aournd the room he pulleed her out from under the bed and set her in a chair. He drew a bottle of diamond-clear liquid out of his robes. Ginny's eyes widened. Veritaserum. But, unfortunately, Malfoy was too strong for her, forcing open her jaws and dribbleing the liquid down her throat.

"You're Ginny Weasley, correct?" Malfoy drawled, seating himself in another chair. Ginny's mind felt fuzzy. Why not answer him? Her name wouldn't hurt. "Yes," she replied dreamily.

"What were you doing before I caught you?"

"Well, I was searching your rooms here…and before that I chased a gnome around your garden…and before that I had dinner…"

"Stop, stop," Malfoy said, annoyed. Ginny gazed happily at him. "_Why_ were you here?"

At this, Ginny's mind seemed to rear out of the cloud it had been coated in. Malfou was a Death Eater. He even still had his mask on. She couldn't tell him anything. But the clear potion he had given her was too strong. She told him the barest, and she hoped unleading truth. "I just wanted to have a look around the manor. A house-elf let me in."

"Really? What did you ant to have a look at, specifically?"

"Just the manor."

"Were you sent to try and find out what I'm up to?"

"Yes."

"You are from the Order of the Phoenix?"

Ginny would have gulped if she hadn't felt like she was frozen. But the Veritaserum was still strong in her veins. "Yes," she whispered again.

Malfoy leaned back in his chair, a slow his of breath escaping from behind his mask. He drummed his long white fingers against the polished arms of the chair in which he was seated. "Who runs the Order?" There was no emotion in his voice that Ginny could detect, though his voice seemed a fraction higher than it had previously been. "Albus Dumbledore," Ginny replied. "Who else is in the Order?"

Ginny was crying by the end of her interrogation. It wasn't harsh, or painful – Malfoy was icily polite – but it was extrememly thorough. Malfoy knew of the names of perhaps fifteen other people who were in the Order with Ginny, where some of them were at the moment, what certain assignments were, what they knew about the Death Eaters, himself most of all. When he finally dragged out of Ginny that the reason she was in the Malfoy Manor was not to spy on the Death Eater meeting, as Malfoy had supposed, but to watch him, Draco Malfoy he seemed disconcerted. Though she couldn't speak, Ginny thought of every swearword and dirty phrase she could think of and applied it to Malfoy with viscious pleasure, trying to ignore the feeling of betrayal that washed over her again and again when she thought of all the information she had given to Malfoy.

Malfoy finally got to his feet and after covering her mouth again, took her to a secret room behind his own and left her there in complete darkness.

* * *

Okay peoples, sorry for the shortness of this chappie, but I wanted to update and suddenly realized I hadn't written more than a paragraph or so for this chappie, so I just finished it up, cause at the moment I don't have any ideas to develop. Doesn't that bug you when you write something? You know what you want to happen, but you can't get there without certain necessary steps that you don't know yet? That always used to happen to me when I was taking Geometry. The teacher would give me the prove statement, and I'd sit there and go huh? for five minutes or so till I got over my block and started working.

GTG. Bye. :-)


	4. Questions and Confusion

"Hungry?"

Malfoy flicked his wand, and a plate of food and a glass of water appeared in front of Ginny. She refused to look at them, and simply stared at the wall in front of her.

"Oh come on, you've got to be hungry. I don't want to have to deal with a dead body."

Ginny turned her head and glared at Malfoy. "You have just forced me to betray my friends and my family. Do you think I'd trust, let alone accept anything you give to me?"

"None of it's poisoned, if that's what you're referring to," Malfoy drawled, stepping out of the room and closing the door once again, though leaving the candle inside for Ginny. Now that the door was closed, the scents of the food were wafting around the small space without being able to escape into the room beyond were making Ginny's mouth water. Though she tried to ignore the plate, the food didn't seem to be getting cold or lose its flavor as it continued to steam. Finally giving in, Ginny pulled the plate toward her and began eating.

---

Three hours later, Ginny was suddenly awakened by a gust of cold air. The candle snuffed out. Her brain had only time to register a dark figure enter the room before it pulled her up by the shoulders and stuffed a thick cloak in her arms. "It's me. Put that on." Ginny glared at him and dropped the cloak to the floor. His breath hissing out in annoyance, Malfoy picked it up and forced it on her, and then pulled her out the door. "Where are you taking me?" Ginny whispered as they ran down the staircase.

"Away from the Manor. My father's suspicious. Don't speak."

A little spark of fear ignited inside Ginny. She had heard about Lucius Malfoy at home from her parents before she even met his son at Hogwarts. He had been a Death Eater when Voldemort first rose to power. She dreaded what would happen if he found her. She quickened her pace until she was equal with Malfoy, the two of them now at a full run through the forest surrounding the Malfoy Manor. They finally came to a halt at a stone platform on the top of a hill, in the middle of a clearing. Malfoy quickly grabbed Ginny's hand and pulled her closer to a stone statue of a wizard and a dragon. Malfoy's hand was cold and slick with sweat. Quickly whispering under his breath, he set his hand against the haunch of the dragon.

It was a similar rushing sensation as in using a Portkey, but instead of being lifted up by an invisible hand this method of transportation made Ginny feel like she had been turned to stone, just like the statue. After a few seconds, Malfoy and Ginny came to a halt in an identical stone courtyard, though here there was a garden surrounding them instead of a forest. For a moment Ginny just stared at the beautiful plants illuminated by the moonlight, but then Malfoy pulled her toward a distant building.

"Come on, you're not safe yet."

Once they reached the structure – which turned out to be a house only slightly smaller than Malfoy Manor – Malfoy led her to a room and spelled so that no one could hear what went on inside. "Stay here," Malfoy warned her as he stepped out the door, "my father might be coming." The door closed, and Ginny heard Malfoy whisper a quiet Sealing Spell on the other side.

Ginny sank down in one of the chairs the room contained, brushing orange hair out of her face as it stuck against her damp forehead. She tried not to think of what would have happened to her if Lucius Malfoy had found her.

But then her thoughts led to other things: that when Malfoy told her that she might be discovered, she was more fearful of Lucius Malfoy than the fact that the man's son was taking her away from the Manor. Looking back, for all Ginny knew, Malfoy might have been taking her to Voldemort (if a little dramatically). And why did she _believe_ him in the first place? He was a Malfoy, and a Death Eater, and he had forced her to tell him everything he knew about the Order…_but wait, that's wrong…_

He hadn't really asked for information, had he? Just yes or no questions, which confused Ginny. Why hadn't he asked about anything else? He had simply had her confirm what he was already thinking.

Malfoy didn't return and for lack of anything better to do, Ginny fell asleep in the armchair.

---

An owl swooped into the room, gently dropping that morning's Daily Prophet on Ginny's lap, stirring Ginny from her slumber. The confusion of the last day's events still troubled Ginny, but she was eager enough for a bit of news of the outside world to open up the newspaper and begin reading through it. She froze as her eyes ran over one of the major headlines.

**_Aurors Attacked_**

_Late last evening, a brutal attack was made on three Aurors from the Ministry of Magic. Auror "Mad-Eye" Alastor Moody, along withMinnie Shrivnerand Ronald Weasley, were all attacked in their offices around midnight as they stayed for extra work. It is lucky for them that Moody, the most experienced Auror of the trio, had a way to signal for help otherwise, as Mediwitch Streep states, "they could be dead, looking at the injuries they sustained before help arrived." All three Aurors are resting in critical condition in Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, but are expected to return home within the month. There is no word as to the identities of the person or persons that did the deed, though some are worried that this might be a Death Eater attack._

Ginny stared horrified at the paper. Ron? _Attacked?_ In 'critical condition?' She quickly scanned the rest of the article, but all it was about was extra precautions and Minister should have taken to protect his Aurors, what they could do now, etc. No other news about Ron.

Malfoy entered the room, but stopped short when he saw the tears on Ginny's face. He opened his mouth so say something but quickly closed it again when he saw the paper in her hands. Ginny stood up and held the paper out to him so that the article she had just read was almost under his nose. "Did you do this?" she asked, her voice trembling with emotion. Something flickered through Malfoy's eyes, but he did not answer. "YOU BASTARD!" she screamed, throwing herself at him, trying to hurt him in any way she could. He quickly grabbed her fists and held her at arms length, where she struggled weakly. He pushed her back into the chair and left the room, locking it behind him before Ginny could follow.

Malfoy came back again that evening, when Ginny had calmed down a bit. He was in his Death Eater garb, all in black with only the mask on his face showing a bit of flesh around his pale eyes. He had a quill and paper in his hands. "Here," he said, shoving them at Ginny, "I'll get it to Saint Mungo's. But no secret messages," he warned her. Ginny glared at him, but quickly penned a short note to Ron, as it might be her only chance to do so. She did desist from putting any messages to the Order in her letter, though; she had a feeling that if Malfoy found them, she wouldn't be the only one to suffer. As soon as she put the quill down Malfoy seized it and the paper, quickly folding the note into his pocket and Banishing the quill. Waving his wand once again so that food appeared on a table, he rushed out the room.

It didn't take very long for Ginny to realize that he forgot to lock the door.

* * *

Oh for crying out LOUD this took ages to write. I seriously have no idea what is going to happen next in the story in relation to the plot. Like I said, I know what needs to happen, but not when or how…-growls-. The next chappie, tho, is going to be what I'm calling Ginny's "Beauty and the Beast" moment. And I'm not talking about them spontaneously falling in love with each other, but you know that scene in the Disney movie where Beauty's wandering through the house and she finds that pinky rose and the Beast yells at her and all that, but now she knows his secret? (Personally, I prefer scarlet or orange roses – or black! I actually know a guy who got a black rose for Valentine's Day…the note on it said something about it reflecting his black heart… :-) And for all of you people who've never read the Beauty and the Beast story or seen the movie, I'm not going to explain the story for you so you better look it up on Google or something. You know, remembering the movie now, as I'm older, the talking candelabra scares me…-shivers-

-morough-


	5. Stories Untold

Title inspired by Jason Mraz's _Unfold_, as I am in the middle of a HECTIC crowd and I'm looking for a bit of peace…-growls-

So, starting exactly where we left off (sorry for not updating sooner, BTW) –

* * *

Ginny touched the door quickly and pulled her hand away, afraid that the door would be tricked. When nothing happened, she pushed the it aside and stepped in to the hallway.

It was dark and dusty; the paintings were still and lifeless. They reminded Ginny of a Muggle house she had been in once, though she doubted these were Muggle paintings. She paused for a moment, wondering where she should look. She didn't think of escaping, as she had no wand and no idea where she was, but she wanted to know anything she could on Malfoy while she had a chance.

_Yes_, she exulted as she found the library. Pulling a random book off an ebony bookshelf, she opened it to the middle, a small puff of dust exiting from its aged spine; Malfoy evidently was not very interested in his family's complete genealogy dating back to two AD.

"'Ello, who're you?"

Ginny gasped and whirled around, almost dropping the heavy silver-backed manual from her hands.

"Please don't scream. Sensitive ears, you know."

_Oh_, thought Ginny, still searching for the disembodied voice. 'Disembodied' actually turned out to be an adequate adjective, as a small dragon that still glowed faintly red crept up the side of a chair, its ghostly form shimmering in the dim light. Ginny sat down on the edge of another chair, shaken. "Who're…?"

"Hawthorne," the little dragon chirped cheerfully, attempting to sharpen its translucent claws on the black leather. "How come you can talk?" Ginny asked, quickly deciding the dragon – Hawthorne – was friendly. "And how did you get to be a ghost?" "Spells, little witch, spells and potions," he grinned, running a snakelike tongue over pearlescent canines. "An illustrious Malfoy ancestor made me his pet, and decided he couldn't continue without me if I died, so he made me into a ghost to stick around for him. Never thought to do it to himself, though," Hawthorne sniffed disdainfully, examining his claws. "Who're _you?_"

"Ginny Weasley," Ginny answered.

"And what are you doing here?" Hawthorne glided to her lap, creating a small cool spot on her thigh. "Prisoner," she sighed, guilt burning inside her. "Malfoy caught me."

"Dear Draco?"

Ginny nodded. "Did he now? He's getting better," Hawthorne remarked, "he's been trying to get someone for absolutely _ages_." "What do you mean?" Ginny asked. "The Order of the Phoenix, silly witchie, the Order," the dragon huffed, "I assume you are from the Order?" Ginny nodded numbly. "He needed to make sure his information was sound before betraying the Dark Lord, didn't he?"

"_Betraying You-Know_-?"

Ginny stopped with a gasp as Malfoy appeared in the doorway. Everyone seemed to have frozen, even Hawthorne.

"I brought back a message from your brother." Malfoy spoke with shards of ice in his voice, his face as calm as a frosted window. "I left it in your room. You'd best read it there." He moved to one side of the doorway. Ginny stood and walked quickly back to her prison, Malfoy following silently behind her. He closed the door and sealed it.

_Betraying You-Know-Who?_ Thought Ginny incredulously as she unfolded Ron's letter, Malfoy? _Impossible…_

---

"WHAT DID YOU TELL HER?"

Hawthorne looked up at Draco Malfoy, his face paler than it usually was with anger.

"Define 'her.'"

"GINNY WEASLEY."

"No need to shout, young human. Nice girl, she was. Good job, catching her like that. Quite a catch, if you know what I mean." Hawthorne laughed, rolling around on the same black chair Ginny had vacated.

"I OUGHT TO TAKE YOU AND-" Malfoy spluttered to a halt, anger clogging his throat as he glared at the small ghostly dragon.

"But you can't – I'm a ghost." Hawthorne grinned. "Not much you can do to me, I'm afraid. But what I suggest to you is you go up to that girl and tell her what you're trying to do. She may not believe you, she may not care, but a willing informant will give you far more information than a dose of Veritaserum will. And that's from experience, laddy."

"You've never drugged anyone in your life."

"No, but your great-great-great- great-great-great-great-great-"

"Shut up. I get the point." Malfoy slumped in a chair, throwing his cloak on the table.

"Smart boy. I knew you would. When are you going to talk to her, then?"

Malfoy set his jaw. "Tonight."

* * *

-hah- I thought I was going to make this such a long chappie. Ah, well, short and sweet is best when you're slacking off work, isn't it? And besides, there wasn't much more I could do right now. In the story, that is. I get fanfiction ideas in spurts. It's funny. _Ivan_'s coming along a lot more easily.

Ivan: -HAH-, suckers!

Morough: right, _you_ should be celebrating. The last 'spurt' I got on Ivan you got your ass kicked.

Ivan: well…

Morough: good thing Ilya was there, huh?

Ivan: -grumbles undiscernibly under breath-

Morough: I thought so :-)

_-morough-_


	6. Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Okay, coming right on the back of chappie 5…

* * *

Ginny opened the letter. If Ron was well enough to write, it meant that he couldn't be too badly hurt.

_Ginny – _

_It's nice to hear from you. We hardly see each other any more, do we? We're always busy with work, even though we work in the same department. I'm doing loads better, my back's properly aligned now, and Moody and the other woman got out of it all right, though Moody needs to regrow the hair on one half of his head. Hermione wants to know if you can come to her birthday party – it's Saturday at nine o'clock. Cake, ice cream, everything. Harry says hi. He's right here, bugging me while I'm trying to write – _

Here the handwriting changed.

_Ginny, how are you. I'll try and send you owls more often. And I am NOT bugging Ron. _

After this there was smudged evidence that Ron had wrested the parchment away from Harry.

_Nice talking to you Ginny. Owl back as soon as you can. _

_-Ron_

Ginny smiled. There had been hardly one sentence Ron had written that hadn't been in code. _Good job, Ron_, she thought silently as she sank into the room's sole chair. She regretted not having enough time to learn anything about Malfoy, but being a prisoner for an unset amount of time didn't appeal to her. _See you soon._

---

Ginny watched her wristwatch tick slowly toward nine o'clock. Judging from Ron's words, there'd be quite a few of them coming for her. She had no idea how they had managed to find her, but she'd get that straightened out as soon as she was safely in Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

She jumped as the door opened behind her and Malfoy stepped into the room. He seemed agitated, his eyes worried under their brows. He was playing nervously with a small wooden amulet, sliding it in out of his fingers. Ginny wished he'd stop. "Weasley – er, Ginny," he began ungracefully, stepping toward her, "I need to –"

SMASH.

A curse blasted through the window next to Ginny, landing squarely on Malfoy's chest. His frame seemed to soak in the blue light as he sank to the floor, his wand dropping out of his fingers. Ginny turned to the window, where she saw Harry, Tonks, Kingsley, and her father floating outside on brooms, masked. Harry's wand was still pointing at Malfoy.

Grabbing Ron's letter, which had fallen to the floor, she leaped toward the window.

"I just loved that," Harry hissed, grabbing Ginny's hand and hoisting her onto his broom. "Wanted to do that for years..."

"Let's go before anything else happens," Kingsley warned as he zoomed off, leading the others behind him. Ginny relished the cool air of the night, enjoying un-Malfoy tainted air. It felt sweet.

---

Malfoy woke up three hours later, groaning as he shifted his body. Damn. That Stunner _hurt_.

"You let her get away," Hawthorne said accusingly, perched on the table above Malfoy. "Yeah, well, you're being very sympathetic," Malfoy shot at him sarcastically, peeling himself off the floor and checking for his wand. "I _was_ going to tell her."

"But you didn't tell her quick enough! If you had gone and done it immediately three hours ago, when I first suggested it –"

"What would I have done? Kept her from escaping? It had to happen eventually."

"Part of your 'plan', I suppose?"

"Yes."

"Stop acting so surly. It doesn't become you at all. I'm sure witchie Weasley wouldn't like it."

"You mean Ginny," Malfoy corrected absently, looking for the amulet. Hawthorne grinned at Malfoy's slip.

Draco couldn't have been happier when he realized Ginny had taken the amulet with her.

* * *

-yay- ideas are beginning to come thick and fast now…I'm typing my fingers off here…

Ivan: mostly on me!

Morough: yes, well, you're going to be my breadwinner once I get you published…

Ivan: breadwinner?

Morough: It's English, Ivan.

Ivan: What?

Morough: breadwinner: you make my money.

Ivan: what does that have to do with bread?

Morough: -glares- absolutely nothing.

Ivan: then why did you bring it up?

Morough: -GAAAA!-


End file.
